The Great Discourse on Causation The Great Discourse on Causation The Mahánidána Sutta and its Commentaries Translated from the Pali by Bhikkhu Bodhi Buddhist Publication Society Kandy • Sri Lanka Buddhist Publication Society P.O. Box 61 54, Sangharaja Mawatha Kandy, Sri Lanka Copyright © 1984, 1995 by Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi First Published in 1984 Second Edition 1995 Reprint 2000 This digital edition 2007 All rights reserved. Permission to reprint material contained in this publication should be obtained from the publishers. National Library of Sri Lanka – Cataloguing-in-Publication Data Bodhi himi The great discourse on causation : the Mahanidana Sutta and its commentaries / Bhikkhu Bodhi. – 2 nd ed. – Kandy : Buddhist Publication Society, 2000 140,xiip. ; 22cm. – First published in 1984 ISBN 955–24–0117–8 i.181.043 DDC 21ii. Title 1. Philosophy, Buddhist2. Buddhism ISBN 955-24-0117-8 Typeset at BPS CONTENTS 1.Primary Sources Dìgha Nikáya: Mahávagga Páli. Burmese Buddhasásana Council edition; Rangoon, 1954. The Dìgha Nikáya. Edited by T. W. Rhys Davids and J. Estlin Carpenter. Volume II. London: Pali Text Society, 1903. Dìgha Nikáya Aþþhakathá (Sumaògalavilásinì): Mahávagga Aþþhakathá. Burmese Buddhasásana Council edition; Rangoon, 1957. Dìgha Nikáya Þìká: Mahávagga Þìká. Burmese Buddhasásana Council edition; Rangoon, 1961. Dìghanikáyaþþhakatháþìká Lìnatthavaóóaná. Edited by Lily De Silva. Volumes I and II. London: Luzac and Company, Ltd. for the Pali Text Society, 1970. II.Previous Translations Consulted Ñáóamoli Thera. “The Mahánidána Suttanta.” Unpublished manuscript translation. Rhys Davids, T.W. and C.A.F., trans. Dialogues of the Buddha , 5th ed., Part II. London: Luzac and Company, Ltd. for the Pali Text Society, 1966. III.Other Related Works Bodhi, Bhikkhu, ed. A Comprehensive Manual of Abhidhamma. Kandy: BPS, 1993. Bodhi, Bhikkhu, trans. The Discourse on the All-Embracing Net of Views: The Brahmajála Sutta and its Commentaries. Kandy: BPS, 1978. Ñáóamoli, Bhikkhu, trans. The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga ) by Bhadantácariya Buddhaghosa , 4th ed. Kandy: BPS, 1979. Especially Chapter XVII. Nyanatiloka. Buddhist Dictionary , 4th rev. ed. Kandy: BPS, 1980 (entries “Paccaya” and “Paþiccasamuppáda”). Nyanatiloka. A Guide through the Abhidhamma Piþaka , 3rd ed. Kandy: BPS, 1971. Appendix. Nyanatiloka. The Significance of Dependent Origination . (Wheel No. 140), Kandy: BPS, 1969. Piyadassi Thera. Dependent Origination : Paþicca Samuppáda . (Wheel No. 15a/b), Kandy: BPS, 1959. Warder, A.K. Indian Buddhism . Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1970. Chapter 5. TRANSLATOR’S P REFACE The present work follows the precedent set by my previous two works for making available in English major Pali Buddhist suttas accompanied by their classical commentaries.* It offers a translation of the Mahánidána Sutta along with abundant selections from its principal exegetical texts, elucidating it from the Theravada Buddhist perspective. The Mahánidána Sutta itself is the fifteenth sutta in the Dìgha Nikáya , the first division of the Sutta Piþaka belonging to the Pali Canon. It is the longest discourse of the Buddha dealing with dependent arising ( paþiccasamuppáda ), a topic pointed to by the Buddha himself as the central principle of his teaching. The word nidána in the title shows up frequently in a chain of synonyms signifying the idea of cause. Within the text it has been rendered as “source,” the primary word “cause” being reserved for the more common hetu . But an intelligible rendering of the sutta’s title required that I take a little freedom with the terms, so there it has been translated “causation,” which certainly communicates the intended sense far more smoothly than anything that could have been derived from “source.” The prefix mahá , meaning “great,” is often added to the title of a long sutta, usually to distinguish it from a shorter sutta of the same name. But from the high regard with which the Mahánidána Sutta is viewed within the Theravada Buddhist tradition, it seems unlikely that the compilers of the Pali Canon called it a “great discourse” merely as an indication of its length. Far more probably their intention was to emphasize the sutta’s own intrinsic greatness, which they saw in the profundity of its subject matter, the thoroughness of its exposition, and the wealth of its implications for an understanding of the human condition. The exegetical texts on the sutta consist of a commentary and a subcommentary. The former is found in the Sumaògalavilásinì , the complete commentary ( aþþhakathá ) to the Dìgha Nikáya. It is the work of the great Indian expositor Bhadantácariya Buddhaghosa, who composed it on the basis of the ancient Sinhala commentaries he studied at the Mahávihára in Sri Lanka in the fifth century C.E. The subcommentary ( þìká ), written to clarify the primary commentary and to carry further the explication of the sutta, is ascribed to Bhadantácariya Dhammapála. He too was an Indian, a resident of Badaratittha near Madras, and probably lived in the century following Buddhaghosa. The commentary, in giving an account of dependent arising, could have been very much longer than it is, but one circumstance made a bulky work unnecessary. In his monumental treatise, the Visuddhimagga , Bhadantácariya Buddhaghosa had already written a full exposition of the subject, and thus, when he took up the commentary to the Mahánidána Sutta, he did not have to repeat himself on every point but could focus his attention on the special issues raised by the sutta itself. As to the general problems posed by dependent arising, those he could deal with in a synoptical manner, sending the earnest student to the Visuddhimagga for details. The format of this work is the same as that of my previous translations. The sutta is given first without comment and with only a few notes. This is followed by the commentarial section which, like those of the earlier works, has been composed selectively. My guiding principle has been to include everything of doctrinal importance, especially from the commentary, while omitting irrelevant digressions and side remarks as well as the copious grammatical and etymological clarifications inevitable in days when commentaries also functioned as Pali dictionaries. The passages selected from the two exegetical texts have been arranged according to the numerical divisions of the sutta. Thus the explanation for any sutta statement elucidated in the commentaries can be found by first looking up the corresponding passage number of the commentarial section and then locating the sutta statement itself, usually signalled by the capitalization of its key phrase. The page numbers of the PTS editions of the Dìgha Nikáya and of its commentary, the Sumaògalavilásinì , are embedded in the text in square brackets. I did not include page references to the PTS edition of the Dìgha Nikáya Þìká, as the margins of that work contain cross-references to the pages of the Sumaògalavilásinì upon which the Þìká is elaborating. The Introduction explains the main principles of the sutta and explores some of the lines of thought stimulated by the Buddha’s suggestive utterances. Though the first section of the Introduction gives a short overview of dependent arising, the essay is not intended as a primer on the doctrine but generally presupposes prior familiarity with it gained from other reliable sources. As might be expected from a discourse spoken to demonstrate the full depth of dependent arising, the Mahánidána Sutta contains several terse and very pithy passages the meaning of which is not at all evident; yet these are not directly elaborated upon either in other suttas or in the commentaries. Therefore, to uncover their meaning, a certain amount of individual interpretation was required, with reflection and intuition contributing as much to the conclusions arrived at as study of the texts. The results of these investigations may be seen particularly in the sections on contact, the “hidden vortex,” the “pathways for designations,” and in the expansion of the Buddha’s very concise arguments against the three “considerations of self.” One prominent feature of the exegetical texts on the Mahánidána Sutta called for special explanation on its own. This is their treatment of dependent arising according to the Abhidhamma system of conditional relations. If I had attempted to deal with this in the Introduction I would have had to digress too far from the main thread of the discussion and would have placed too great a burden on the essay. To avoid this I have added an appendix in which I devote to this method of treatment the separate attention it requires. Though each reader will find his or her own way of approaching the material presented here, intensive study will probably be most fruitful if the sutta is read first by itself, a second time in conjunction with the introductory essay, and a third time in conjunction with the commentarial exegesis. Bhikkhu Bodhi LIST OF A BBREVIATIONS A. Aòguttara Nikáya Cy. Dìgha Nikáya Aþþhakathá (Commentary) D. Dìgha Nikáya Dhs. Dhammasaògaóì Dhs.A. Dhammasaògaóì Aþþhakathá (Aþþhasálinì) M. Majjhima Nikáya M. Nd. Mahá Niddesa Pþs. Paþisambhidámagga Pug. Puggalapaññatti S. Saíyutta Nikáya Sn. Sutta Nipáta Sub. Cy. Dìgha Nikáya Þìká (Subcommentary) Vin. Vinaya Piþaka Vism. Visuddhimagga References to Vism. are followed by the chapter and section number of Bhikkhu Ñáóamoli’s translation, The Path of Purification (see Texts Used). Otherwise, all references are to Pali Text Society editions. INTRODUCTION